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Honestly, I highly doubt the plane will never be found, since it's been two months already. Not that I'm blaming them for trying, but I'm beginning to feel like this is dragging on and on. I'd love to see the plane found and maybe see the families affected get some closure, but that's becoming more and more unlikely... The plane's black box, which is able to survive with batteries for a month, has more than likely already gone dead.

Maya Angelou, whose landmark book of 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — a lyrical, unsparing account of her childhood in the Jim Crow South — was among the first autobiographies by a 20th-century black woman to reach a wide general readership, died on Wednesday at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. She was 86.

Her death was confirmed by her longtime literary agent, Helen Brann. The cause of death was not immediately known, but Ms. Brann said Ms. Angelou had been frail for some time and had heart problems.

I liked some of her poetry. I should get around to reading more of it.

Fighting for real American turtles everywhere. Pro-Turtle since 6/30/13

They thought they had something to prove to someone they found on a ghoulish website, police say. So, two girls allegedly lured a third girl into a wooded area in Waukesha, Wisconsin, over the weekend and stabbed her 19 times, according to authorities.

The suspects allegedly left the victim to crawl to her own rescue. The three girls, all 12 years old, were friends, according to a criminal complaint.

A bicyclist found the wounded girl alive Saturday, lying on a sidewalk in Waukesha, Police Chief Russell Jack said. She was in stable condition at a hospital Monday.

The girls were trying to impress a certain “Slenderman,” the complaint read. One of the girls encountered the name on a website known as Creepypasta Wiki.

Slenderman is a fictional character and Internet meme that often appears in horror stories, videos and images. One of the suspects told police that Slenderman is the site’s supposed leader, and to climb into his realm, a user must kill someone.

The statement expressed condolences for everyone involved and stressed that the site does not condone or encourage violence in any way. But it also noted that “it’s hard to justify pinning blame on an entire genre of writing.”

Creepypasta is a play on the term “copypasta,” which is derived from the keyboard action “copy-paste.” Creepypasta is horror fiction written with the Web in mind and, often, comes in a style that makes it look like a news or true crime story.

When this story was first emerging, reports were saying the two girls did this to impress a boy. This is even stupider.

And the shooter has apparently admitted to intentionally not taking his meds so he could hate and hurt people. That student with the pepper spray was really lucky. There is a reason that the police don't use pepper spray exclusively. The shooter had a double-barrelled shotgun that misfired so it was only firing one round at a time. The student was also in violation of the school's weapon policy.

It looks like Hobby Lobby has won its case. In a 5-4 decision along the usual lines (Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, Alito, and Kennedy, all of whom are Catholics by the way), the court said that ‘closely held corporations’ (a specific type of for-profit corporation) each owned and controlled by members of a single family cannot be forced to provide contraception coverage for its employees and should be given the same accommodations as the government gave nonprofit organizations.

The majority opinion said that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or RFRA applies to these corporations and the government had not shown that the contraception mandate is the least restrictive means of advancing its interest in providing birth control. However, it also said that the ruling should not be used as a cloak to hide illegal discrimination under the guise of religion, and that it did not apply to all health insurance mandates such as transfusions or vaccinations.

So there's that. As far as the modern trend of cases having to do with defending/privileging religious conscience (based on your perspective), it seems like the pendulum swings both ways. Even when I take the time to read through full decisions, I can't always trace a common, consistent logical principle. I'm also curious why this decision grants religious exemption for having a third party cover contraceptive care, but does not grant religious exemption from vaccinations. It likely has to do with the "least restrictive means of advancing its interest" part, but the means of differentiating contraception as a "restrictive means" from vaccination, at least, is not immediately clear to me.

Robin Williams
1951-2014"What's it gonna be? I don't know. But maybe along the way, you take my hand, tell a few jokes, and have some fun. C'mon, pal. You're not afraid, are ya?"

On July 30, 2014, the Taganrog City Court convicted and sentenced 7 of the 16 Witnesses in Taganrog for attending and organizing their peaceful religious meetings. They were prosecuted merely for carrying out the same religious activity that Jehovah’s Witnesses perform around the world. This verdict sets a dangerous precedent in restricting religious freedom for Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout Russia.

The judge had scheduled to announce the verdict on July 28, 2014, but he adjourned to the following day. On July 29, the judge read the 100-page decision all day and continued on the morning of July 30. He sentenced four congregation elders to prison terms of five to five and a half years and to pay a 100,000 ruble ($2,800 U.S.) fine. He sentenced three other Witnesses to pay fines of 50,000 to 60,000 rubles ($1,400 to $1,700 U.S.) each. The judge waived all of the fines because the investigation and trial exceeded the statute of limitations, and he suspended the prison sentences. The remaining nine Witnesses were acquitted.

In reaching his decision, the judge relied on the September 2009 ruling of the Rostov Regional Court to liquidate the Local Religious Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Taganrog. Although the 2009 ruling targeted only the legal entity, the judge determined that the religious activity of all of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Taganrog and surrounding districts was banned.

During the 15-month-long trial, those accused testified that they would not renounce their faith and would continue their worship as Jehovah’s Witnesses. For those sentenced, their resolve to continue their religious activity means that they face the possibility of imprisonment as repeat offenders.

Victor Zhenkov, one of the attorneys in the case, stated: “I fear what the decision portends for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcement authorities in Taganrog and throughout Russia can use this decision in a propaganda campaign to continue harassing and persecuting Jehovah’s Witnesses with the real threat of imprisonment merely for practicing their faith.”

The Witnesses in Taganrog are appealing the decision to the Rostov Regional Court.

*rubs temple*

And so it it begins. Not that this wasn't to be expected though.

#AlphaSapphire

I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
If you have a question about my religion, or wish to discuss my religion, the Bible, or anything related to this topic, feel free to PM or VM me, take a look at the information in my profile or visit our official website.

The jihadist militant group said the killing was revenge for US air strikes against its fighters in Iraq. Foley's mother Diane said on Facebook she was proud of her son: "He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people."

The White House said if the video was genuine, the US would be "appalled".

Foley, 40, has reported extensively across the Middle East, working for the US publication GlobalPost and other media outlets including French news agency AFP.

Burger King may be the home of the Whopper, but Canada may be the new home of Burger King.

The restaurant operator said on Sunday that it was in talks to buy Tim Hortons, the Canadian doughnut-and-coffee chain, in a potential deal that would create one of the world’s biggest fast-food businesses.

If completed, the deal would mean Burger King’s corporate headquarters would move to Canada, raising the specter of yet another American company switching its national citizenship to lower its tax bill.

The one thing that I would like to see, is for the U.S to make up its mind in Iraq. Either fully commit to defeating the terrorists or redefine what the objective is. The half hearted strategy looks like a disaster and puts way too many civilians at risk.